Surging trucks emerge as bright spot in slowing U.S. auto market

Published 11:45 am, Wednesday, January 3, 2018

A passing car carrier is reflected in the grille of a 2017 Ford F-150 pickup truck at the Sutton Ford Lincoln car dealership in Matteson, Illinois, on April 3, 2017.

A passing car carrier is reflected in the grille of a 2017 Ford F-150 pickup truck at the Sutton Ford Lincoln car dealership in Matteson, Illinois, on April 3, 2017.

Photo: Bloomberg Photo By Daniel Acker.

Surging trucks emerge as bright spot in slowing U.S. auto market

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Carmakers capped their first year of shrinking U.S. sales since the recession on a high note, with surging truck demand buoying General Motors and carrying to a surprise gain.

Ford's light vehicle deliveries rose 1.3 percent last month as its F-Series pickup line had its best year since 2005. GM reported a less dramatic monthly drop than analysts expected, as sales of the Chevrolet Silverado climbed 25 percent.

All major automakers had been projected to report declining sales to wrap up the market's first down year since 2009, when GM and Chrysler went bankrupt. Most companies beat or matched estimates thanks to a strong close to the year for pickup models that are helping them command record prices, according to car-shopping website Kelley Blue Book.

"This year, it'll be an even bigger year for trucks, because there are new ones coming," Michelle Krebs, an analyst with car-shopping website Autotrader, said on Bloomberg Television. "We know that Fiat Chrysler will be introducing a new Ram this year. General Motors has a couple of new full-size pickup trucks and Ford will have some additions to the F-Series. So, it's going to be the year of the truck."

GM predicted the industry would post an annualized selling rate for December, adjusted for seasonal trends, of 18.2 million light vehicles, matching the pace set a year earlier and beating the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

"I'm actually surprised the industry was as strong as it was, we had some pretty severe weather, bitterly cold in much of the country," Mark LaNeve, Ford's U.S. sales chief, said on a call with analysts and reporters. "That typically isn't great for vehicle shopping, but the industry ran really strong in the last 10 days" of the month.

Ford's F-Series was the top pickup in the U.S. for the 41st consecutive year and extended to 36 years its annual reign as the best-seller among all vehicles. Toyota's RAV4 was the leading sport utility vehicle for the first time and joined Nissan's Rogue crossover in outselling all passenger cars in what was a bleak year for sedans.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reported an 11 percent decline for the month, in line with analyst estimates. While the automaker's U.S. sales have dropped each of the last 16 months, it's been curbing discounted shipments to rental-car companies and other fleet buyers. Deliveries to those customers plunged 42 percent in December.

Toyota posted an 8.3 percent decrease in December sales, in line with analyst estimates, while Nissan and Honda trailed projections with declines of 9.5 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

Industry sales in 2018 will probably drop again thanks in part to higher interest rates and greater availability of used sport utility vehicles. The average analyst estimate is for 16.7 million light-vehicle sales in 2018, which is still a healthy level by historical standards.

Light trucks, which include pickups and SUVs, gained share last year, accounting for 63 percent of U.S. sales through November, up from 59 percent a year earlier, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Consumers like the extra storage space, higher seating position and improved fuel economy of car-based SUVs, also called crossovers.